♪ the next generation. china's new lineup of leaders prepares to take control and steer the world's second-largest economy into the future. a complex and secretive political process will soon come to a conclusion. in a couple of hours, the communist party's new leaders will walk onto a stage in beijing and appear before the media. vice president xi jinping will likely be at the front of the line. he's expected to succeed

president hu jintao as the party's general secretary. the party wrapped up its week-long national congress wednesday. the meeting is held every five years. delegates elected new members for the central committee. those members will meet thursday to choose the lineup for the party's political bureau and the core group of leaders who sit on the elite politburo committee. president hu, premier wen jiabao, and five members will retire. vice president show gin being and others are expected to remain and be joined by a new generation of leaders. analysts say xi will take over from hu as the president's general pear. president hu has held the position for tennessee years. >> translator: all party members should unite under the party leadership and with chinese character hold high the great banner of socialism. >> sources close to the party say the number of standing committee members will be reduced from the current nine to seven.

analysts say xi and li could be joined by the vice premier, the vice premier, head of the publicity department, and the party secretary. that lineup would mean china's main decision-making body would be dominated by officials close to the former president who has already retired from politics. along with a new roster of leaders we're waiting to see if president hu will stay on as chair of the central military commission after he steps down as general secretary. now, people inside and outside of china are watching to see how the pieces of this leadership puzzle will fall into place and who will secure a spot at the top. nhk world's james tengan explains how it all works. >> reporter: the politburo's standing committee is the communist party's top leadership. experts say it adopts key policies with a majority vote.

right now, nine of the party's more than 80 million members are in the politburo. so that means the fate of a country with a population of 1.3 billion is in the hands of a small group of people. here's how the process will unfold. delegates to the national congress select about 200 members to be on the central committee. those individuals choose china's new leadership, the members of the politburo's standing committee. now within that group there's a pecking order. president hu jintao currently sits at the top of the politburo. he's general secretary of the communist party. he also chairs the central military commission which controls the people's liberation army. other politburo members occupy key posts too, including the premoorship. conventionally, the congress

picks an odd number of politburo members. but the actual number varies. in 1992 and 1997, the congress chose seven members. in 2002 and 2007, it picked nine. the makeup of the politburo directly affects the balance of power within the communist party. that's why intense personnel maneuvers play out ahead of every national congress. analysts will watch for the outcome of that maneuvering. they'll also focus on how many younger leaders will be appointed to key party posts. cradle of culture, economic powerhouse. many enjoy the fruits of prosperity along the path to a new china. but millions are missing out. at a time of growing public discontent, members of the communist party are choosing their new leaders. "newsline" correspondents are reporting from the party's national congress. don't miss our special coverage,

"china: the next generation" 8:00 p.m. japan time here on "newsline." members of the palestinian islamist group hamas are vowing revenge for an attack that left their military chief dead. israeli pilots killed ahmed jabahri in a series of strikes on targets in gaza. israeli military official blame jabbarri for leading attacks against their country for years. officials say they have launched a major operation against terrorist strongholds. air bombardments continue in gaza. a military spokesperson says ground troops are prepared to enter the district if needed. israeli forces carried out three weeks of air and ground assaults on gaza in 2008. about 1,300 people died. hamas has released a statement saying the latest attack has opened the gates of hell. many fear the group will now

launch a large-scale retaliation, further fueling the conflict. egypt has recalled its ambassador to israel to protest the killing of the hamas military leader. egypt is one of the few arab countries with diplomatic ties to israel. but president mohamed morsi belongs to the muslim brotherhood which has close relations to hamas. morsi has called for an emergency meeting of the arab league to discuss the killing. the leaders of asia's top economies want to work out a free trade agreement. ramin mellegard joins us from the business desk. there are so many trade negotiations going on worldwide. what are the details in this case? >> catherine, representatives of japan, china, and south korea are trying to get together this month to talk about starting negotiations for a free trade pact. the countries have agreed there are benefits to strengthening economic ties as the move

towards free trade accelerates worldwide. leaders of the three countries had agreed in may that they would begin the trade negotiations by the end of this year. been made in working-level meetings but prospects for the talks were unclear in the shadow of the japan/china territory i am dispute over islands in the east china sea. the official launch of fta talks is now expected to get the green light. on the sidelines of the east asia summit in cambodia on november 20th. u.s. president barack obama declared his intention to raise taxes on wealthy americans. he says he wants to discuss this openly with republicans who control the house of representatives. obama on wednesday held his first news conference since re-election. he expressed strong concern about expiring tax cuts and automatic spending cuts referred to as the fiscal cliff. unless lawmakers can agree by the end of this year to extend the tax cuts for middle class,

the economy could plummet. >> we should not hold the middle class hostage while we debate tax cuts for the wealthy. we should at least do what we agree on, and that's to keep middle class taxes lower. >> obama stressed the u.s. cannot afford to extend tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of the population if it wants to reduce the country's mounting deficit. obama asked for cooperation from republicans. he said he is open to compromise and open to new ideas that could bring about a rise in tax revenues. let's check on the markets. first, looking at currencies. just having a look at the dollar similar yen at 80.19-21. that's due to uncertainties about japan's economic policies that the country is set to hold a general election next month. the dollar/yen is trading

between 80.19-21 and having a look at the euro, 102.05-10. sources are telling us that the yen is falling on speculation that the bank of japan may step up its monetary easing measures. dollar-buying against the yen may not be so strong as worries about the u.s. fiscal cliff. turning to stock markets. share prices in tokyo are rising as export-related issues are being bought due to the weaker yen. nikkei average, 8742. and that's up .9%, or 78 points from wednesday's close. analysts say the japanese currencies dliped to the lower 80 yen range against the dollar is encouraging investors to buy stocks. let's have a look at asia-pacific region, seoul's kospi, 1864. that is down 1.5%. australia's benchmark index is also lower, .8% at 4352.

hundreds of thousands of workers have staged strikes or demonstrated across europe in coordinated protests against excessive cuts in government spending. wednesday's rallies in spain, italy, greece and elsewhere were planned by the european trade union confederation. in spain more than 10,000 people staged demonstrations in central madrid. clashes with riot police left some people injured. protesters also clashed in rome and milan. in spain and portugal workers went on strike, some schools were closed, and flight services were canceled. the labor confederation says austerity is a total dead end social protection and wages can no longer be sacrificed. critics say the european economy is stagnating due to these austerity measures.

these include tax hikes and payroll cuts in the public sector. that's all for business news for this hour. i'll leave with you a recap of the region's markets. the european union will use its nobel peace prize money to

set up a relief fund for children in war zones. the move follows criticism of this year's award to the eu. the eu says it made the decision ahead of the awards ceremony in norway on december 10th. the prize money is about $1.2 million. the union won the 2012 prize for helping to overcome the legacy of two world wars and bring peace to europe. the president of the european commission said the prize is a symbol of reconciliation. he says the award money should be used to nurture hopes for the future. myanmar's opposition leader aung san suu kyi has called on india to support her country as it moves towards democracy. aung san suu kyi made the call in new delhi, india, on wednesday where she's visiting for the first time in 25 years. she asked india to support the people of myanmar as they continue to strive toward their goal of creating a democratic state.

>> as long as our peoples remain bound in understanding and mutual respect, the friendship between our two countries will last far into the future. >> in a speech she cited her own close relationship with india, referring to the period when she lived there. at that time her mother was serving as then burma's ambassador to india. ahead of the lecture she exchanged views with india's prime minister singh about the process of bringing democracy to myanmar. afghanistan produces more than 80% of opium circulating around the world and trade in the drug threatens to destabilize the entire region. politicians from several nations have been meeting in the pakistani capital islamabad to discuss ways to tackle the problem. >> reporter: cabinet members from afghanistan and 11 nearby countries attended the two-day

conference that ended on tuesday. opium produced in afghanistan is smuggled into pakistan and central asian nations such as tajikstan and uzbekistan. the united nations office on drugs and crime says 5,800 tons of opium was made from poppies in afghanistan last year. there's an increase of 60% from the year before. the afghan government says opium is a major source of funding for taliban militants. it held a ceremonial burning of accelerated drugs to highlight its campaign against the poppy trade. but opium is a regional problem. afghan-made drugs fund islamic tremists and crime organizations in pakistan and other countries.

pakistani interior minister called on western nations to share responsibility for the drug trade. even though most opium is produced in asia, it's consumed in the west. >> i demand the west to reduce their demand. where the blame is on pakistan, the blame is on afghanistan, the blame is on the regional countries here. >> reporter: opium from afghanistan is applied to the whole region. those who produce it and transport it and those who consume it need to work together to end this scourge. nhk world, islamabad. emerging economic powers still struggling with poverty. emboed citizens still demanding democracy. the threat of violence. the push for peace.

the shadow of conflict. get news and insight on south and southeast asia every weekday live from bangkok only on nhk world "newsline." wine lovers have started popping the corks on this year's beaujolais. sales of the 2012 vintage begin on thursday. thanks to geography, people in japan are the first to sample the french wine each year. wine experts say this year's grape harvest suffered from poor weather. producers in france's beaujolais region wonder tuesday they would be able to meet demand. vineyards faced heavy rain, cool temperatures, and summertime hailstorms. the harvest of grapes used in buy voe beaujolais was one of the worst on record. producers wanted to make sure they could quench japanese consumers' thirst. they shipped 8 million bottles to japan, the same number as last year. to do this, they reduced the

amount available for sale in france. >> translator: it's difficult to meet new orders this year. but we will be able to deliver the wine to japanese customers without problem. >> people in the northern japanese city of sapporo celebrated the release of this year's vintage at midnight. >> translator: i reserved a month ago and i've been looking forward to it ever since. i'm going to buy a lot. >> wine patients say this year's vintage has a fine, fruity flavor that appeals to japanese tastes. crowds gathered in osaka department store this week to catch a glimpse of one young

visitor. minami is no ordinary girl. she's the latest in interactive robots. she can move just like the rest of us thanks to sensors inside. >> translator: the way she speaks it's so real, i can't believe she's a robot. it's startling. >> 70% of the world's industrial robots are japanese inventions. but some robotmakers believe their creations should look anything but industrial. >> hi. >> hello. nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you. welcome. >> nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you again.

another doctor. he had the original identity, i'm a copy of him. >> reporter: hiroshi on the faculty for osaka university is among eight geniuses who will change the world, according to cnn. for 20 years he's been creating interactive robots that can play a role in society. he started off with humanoids that looked conventional. but he began to wonder how humans would react to robots if they were integrated into our daily lives. he modeled his first android after his daughter 12 years ago. he placed eight motors in the head to produce movements. silicon substituted for skin. but when his daughter saw the robot, she burst into tears.

>> the problem was when the android moved the head, nod, right, and the body was shaking like a zombie. it was so scary. >> reporter: so he set out to learn what other than appearance makes humans look human. he filmed himself and closely observed the video. he paid extra attention to changes of facial expression because they get the most attention in conversation. armed with that information, he began work to recreate himself. ac due waiters that reply on pressurized air make movements like human muscles do. he inserted them in 50 places, 13 alone in the face. that allowed for subtle expressions, wrinkles appearing in the brow, cheeks move slightly when smiling. the robot displayed the kind of unconscious movements that we

do. one kind of place that can always use more helping hands is hospitals. in this experiment an android dressed as a nurse joined a physician. the purpose was to compare patients' impressions of this meeting with another in which they met with the doctor alone. a computer kept track of the physician's facial expressions and transmitted them to the android. the android's facial expressions would change accordingly. >> translator: the doctor is male, so i felt that having the female android in the room made me feel more relaxed. >> translator: it's not only medicine that cures patients. how patients feel when they come to see us affects their treatment too. i think androids can be very effective. >> reporter: he recently started

using a remote-controlled android to substitute for him when he's asked to give lectures. he believes that robots like humans are a product of evolution. >> humans develop so many technologies, but always the hint or ideas are coming from human beings. are we going to use more robots and a robot will take a very important role in society. >> his robots recently appeared in a stage play in italy and in denmark they will join an experiment for the elderly. many people living in japan along the sea of japan coast are experiencing stormy conditions. >> here in japan we are dealing with unstable conditions and upper cold air combined, making this nasty weather. fukui prefecture saw lots of hail and that was reported, so

that will be persisting across similar regions all the way up towards northern japan on the sea of japan flank here. but also thunderstorms, frequent lightning, strong gusts. gusts of 75 kilometers per hour reported in niigata prefecture. on the pacific side as well, winds are going to be strong, picking up waves about 3 meters high. on top of that, really cold air is brought across much of the country and keeping things really chilly. this morning we saw very chilly weather. temperatures dropping down to about eight degrees here in metropolitan tokyo are that's the first single digit we've seen so far this season. very dry across the pacific side. so remaining dry but i should say dry air advisories are

posted. maybe you're feeling lips chapping and all that dry air could be very dangerous for y r your -- could be very dry. but across here in southern china, things are very humid. moisture is picking up, surging from the south. so really accumulation of that rain, could be as much as 100 millimet millimeters. here we have a tropical development, a tropical depression right now could turn, intensify into a tropical storm, a named storm in the next 24, 48. either way, even if it doesn't become intensified, it will be a very heavy rainmaker, bringing some coastal flooding that could be heavy due to already saturated land. bangkok 33. 15 for our high in tokyo. 9 degrees in seoul and beijing.

some parts of northern china found a low temperature of mine annua us in 18. ulan bator down to minus 14 reported this morning. the high reaching up to minus 11 degrees. moving over to the american continent here. still snowy in the upper great lakes regions.really fine and c across much of the continent here. across southeast, things could be severe on the rain side. heavy rain could be targeting the area and due to the astronomical high tide, and toward the pacific northwest, things are very windy. then this precipitation could be heavy coming down from british columbia, down in towards seattle, vancouver. temperature-wise, we're looking at single digits there. welli peg, minus 8. across new york, lower than average at 9 degrees. los angeles, keeping its warmth

at 22. let's move over to the european continent. you can see this cloud formation in northern africa. this has been bringing severe weather across the region. take a look at a video coming up from morocco. a strong low pressure system caused torrential rain in eastern morocco on sunday and monday. it's great rare that heavy rain of such magnitude hits this region. many roads were closed due to serious flooding. travel disturbances continue into today. let's pull back and show you that finally this system will be moving away from that region but next taking aim toward southern italy. this country doesn't want any more flooding but could get pretty bad here across the regions with this heavy rain. a sudden burst of showers could trigger coastal flooding. wet across the iberian peninsula toward portugal and spain could get targeted with heavy rain as well. but it's been staying on the

warmer side, cooler in moscow at 5 degrees. here's your extended forecast. and that concludes this

edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

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